Forestry exports rise by 16 percent in 2018

Vietnam earns more than 9.3 billion USD from forestry exports this year (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam earns more than
9.3 billion USD from the export of forestry products in 2018, up 15.9 percent
from last year, according to the Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST).

The revenue accounts for over 23 percent of the total agricultural exports this
year, the VNFOREST said at a meeting on December 24, adding that the five
biggest markets of the US, Japan, the EU, China and the Republic of Korea are
the destinations of 87.33 percent of the country’s forestry shipments.

Noting the fulfilment of all the set targets, the VNFOREST said the forestry
sector recorded a 6.12-percent increase in its production value.

More than 231,520ha of concentrated forests were planted, 18.7 percent higher
than this year’s target. That has helped expand the forest coverage nationwide
by 0.2 percent from a year earlier to 41.65 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of forest
law violation cases was brought down by nearly 3,580 or 22 percent from last
year. The area of damaged forests was also reduced by 515ha or 35 percent.

VNFOREST Deputy Director General Pham Van Dien said for 2019, the sector
targets a growth rate of 5.5-6 percent in the forestry production value, and
over 10.5 billion USD in wood and forestry product exports.

It vows to protect and sustainably develop all the existing forests to raise
the nationwide coverage to 41.85 percent. Meanwhile, it will prevent and handle
violations of forest regulations in a timely manner so as to reduce the number
of violation cases and the deforested area by at least 10 percent and 20
percent from 2018, respectively.

At the meeting, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong
said the forestry sector needs to concertedly and drastically implement the Law
on Forestry and the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Voluntary
Partnership Agreement (FLEGT-VPA), which Vietnam recently signed with the EU.

He said the FLEGT-VPA will be a turning point of the sector, stressing that the
enforcement of this agreement and the Forestry Law will create a foundation for
developing a sustainable forestry economy.–VNA